


The Sound of Rain

by Estelathan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Dreaming of Freedom, Frigga's Garden, Gen, Imprisoned Loki, Rain, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 01:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3510401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estelathan/pseuds/Estelathan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are times when Loki imagines he can hear the sound of rain falling. . .</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of Rain

Sometimes, in the silence of his cell, Loki likes to imagine he can hear the sound of rain falling softly just beyond the golden containment barrier that imprisons him. It is unquestionably one of the more absurd notions his fractured mind has conjured in his madness, yet he finds he cannot help himself. Even for a former recluse such as himself Loki longs for fresh air and nature in a way he hasn't since he was a child and once the notion has wormed its way into his mind he finds he cannot banish it.  
  
How long has it been now since he's heard the sound of rain, or been free to actually witness it? A year? A decade? Surely a millennia could not have passed yet. . . It is a question without an answer; for all his wit Loki finds even he cannot keep track of time in this never-changing cell without some way to track the days. For all he knows less than a week could have passed since the Allfather unleashed this hellish sentence of eternal imprisonment!  
  
Still, longing and frustration weave a complicated dance through his thin frame as he settles himself onto the floor, closing green eyes as he contemplates the falling rain his ears so clearly hear.  Ignoring the way the harsh light burns even through his closed eyelids, Loki settles his mind and stills his body. While the damnable barrier prevents him from escaping his physical shell and otherwise escaping the cell, there are other ways and so he concentrates.  
  
The sweet smell of the air hits him first: a heady blend of exotic flowers in bloom tangled with the tang of rain that floats in the air before it falls. He breathes deep, letting the scents fill him before he slowly opens his eyes. Instead of the harsh light and endless white spread out before him the world is a blur of color yet Loki knows this place like he knows the back of his hand: Frigga's garden. It springs up around him all lush greens, exotic flowers, and pathways that branch out in every direction. If this is an illusion it's a grand one, beyond even his own measure and he would be a fool if he let it slip by unexplored. Getting to his feet, Loki sets off down one of the pathways at random, reaching out to gently run a hand along the leaves of the plants as he passes by. Sorrow pangs his heart- of all the (very few) places Loki regrets never being able to step foot in again, Frigga's garden is the most missed.  
  
The garden had ever been his sanctuary as a child. Here he was met with the loving arms of his mother; never overlooked nor trodden upon like elsewhere. He can still recall with perfect clarity sitting with her under the trees as she patiently educated him in the ways of seidr. Even after he had outstripped her abilities he had continued to return here with her to show off what new skill he had learned. If it weren't for her. . . He chokes, pushing the thought forcefully from his mind before it can take root anywhere. Even in an illusion it would be blasphemy to turn a place of sanctuary into one of condemnation. Thankfully before he can tread too far down that road, however, the rumbling of the skies and the soft pattering of the first drops of rain breaks him _free_.  
  
Shaking his head to clear away the last of the lingering thoughts, Loki forces himself to start moving once again. He emerges from the trees and turns his face up at the sky to meet the rain he's long expected. The rain is cold, yet Loki finds he doesn't care as it begins to fall faster. As it soaks into his hair and thin clothes seldom-used laughter bubbles up in his throat. In the moment it doesn't matter that he's still a prisoner and has probably, finally, lost his mind at long last because right now he feels _free_.  
  
How long he stands there being soaked and laughing Loki doesn't know suffice to say by the time he comes around again he's more than a little water-logged and gasping for breath. Still a smile tugs at his lips as he finally moves back under the cover of the trees. For the first time in well, forever, he feels content. Happy, even. It's such an alien concept- happiness, yet as he settles down underneath one of the trees, leaning his head back to rest against the trunk, Loki thinks he could come to enjoy it.  
  
Between one breath and the next the rain and garden are gone, once again replaced with with the harsh light and everlasting whiteness of the cell. While it was never going to last, illusion or madness Loki cannot help the pang of sorrow that stabs his heart at its loss. Yet the contentment has remained and for the first time since being left here Loki finds he feels like himself once more.  
  
From the corridor outside the energy barrier there comes a shout from the guards as rain begins to unexpectedly fall. _'Yes'_ , Loki thinks to himself as he rests his head back against the wall and closes his eyes, _'I needed that indeed.'_ As the guards scramble and shout amongst themselves in the hallway Loki smiles to himself and drifts off to sleep.


End file.
